Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Lowe's Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.49 percent to 25,929.77 while the NASDAQ declined 0.64 percent to 7,501.20. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.44 percent to 2,781.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the energy shares rose 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Dril-Quip, Inc. DRQ up 14 percent, and Callon Petroleum Company CPE up 9 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell 0.8 percent.

Top Headline

Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.

Lowe's said it earned $0.80 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $15.647 billion versus expectations of $0.79 per share and $15.75 billion. Lowe's expects FY19 earnings of $6.00 to $6.10 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $6.04 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. TNDM shares got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $62.12 after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings beat. The company issued strong full-year 2019 sales guidance.

Shares of Frontier Communications Corporation FTR shot up 34 percent to $3.37 after the company reported Q4 results.

Sea Limited SE shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $20.01 after reporting Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW shares dropped 35 percent to $19.27 after the company posted downbeat Q4 sales and issued weak full-year 2019 guidance.

Shares of Dycom Industries, Inc. DY were down 31 percent to $43.06 after the company posted downbeat Q4 earnings and issued weak Q1 profit forecast.

Inogen, Inc. INGN was down, falling around 21 percent to $110.71 after reporting Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.1 percent to $56.64 while gold traded down 0.1 percent to $1,327.90.

Silver traded down 0.1 percent Wednesday to $15.905, while copper rose 0.5 percent to $2.966.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.3 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.3 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.3 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.3 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.1 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.7 percent.

Economics

The advanced trade deficit in goods increased 12.8 percent to $79.5 billion in December, versus $70.5 billion in November.

U.S. factory orders increased 0.1 percent in December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent rise.

Pending home sales rose 4.6 percent to a reading of 103.2 for January.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.